Dade City teen charged in mother's allergic shock

DADE CITY — A 16-year-old girl was arrested Tuesday and charged with aggravated domestic battery after Pasco deputies said she spiked her mom's food with an ingredient that she knew could cause a severe allergic reaction.

The 39-year-old mother is allergic to many foods, deputies said. Her allergies are so severe that she carries around an EpiPen, a spring-loaded auto injector of epinephrine, or adrenaline, to prevent her from going into anaphylactic shock.

The woman needed the EpiPen the night of May 7, when deputies said the teen added seasoning salt to her mother's dinner, which caused a severe allergic reaction.

The mom's reaction was so intense that she was unable to inject herself with the EpiPen, deputies said, and the teen had to do it for her. The woman did not require further treatment.

Several family members told deputies they believed the teen, who attends Pasco High School, may have spiked her mom's food more than once. They said she was angry because her mom made her do chores and recently took away her cell phone, according to the arrest report.

The teen's 11-year-old sister told deputies she saw the 16-year-old put the seasoning salt in the food, the report said. She wanted to tell their mother, but her older sister threatened to "beat her up until she was dead."

The little sister told deputies that she was afraid because her sister slaps her, pushes her around and makes her do chores.

The teen told deputies that she added the seasoning salt to the meal, knowing her mother was allergic to the ingredients. She said she did not mean to hurt her mother and she was sorry for what she had done.

She was charged and transported to the juvenile assessment center in Land O'Lakes.

Helen Anne Travis can be reached at htravis@sptimes.com or (352) 521-6518.